The Utah Jazz pulled away from a scrappy young Oklahoma City Thunder team on Wednesday. They’ll certainly hope to make handier work of a floundering New Orleans Pelicans squad on this Friday evening. All told, the Jazz (12-6) sit third in the Western Conference. They’re in the midst of a solid season, but they’d like to string together enough wins to join the conference’s elite in the Golden State Warriors (16-2) and Phoenix Suns (15-3).
Meanwhile, the Pelicans (4-16) have struggled mightily in 2021-22 so far. Rather than thinking about playoff seeding, they may already be wondering how well Chet Holmgren might fit with a (hopefully healthy) Zion Williamson.
Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans Odds Tonight
According to WynnBet, Utah is currently a 12.5-point favorite against New Orleans and a -800 money line favorite. The Pelicans are a +550 money line underdog.
The over/under is at 215.0 points.
Utah Jazz Starting Lineup tonight
With Royce O’Neale listed as questionable tonight with an ankle sprain, Quin Snyder may be forced to insert Joe Ingles or Rudy Gay into his usual starting lineup of Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert. Otherwise, it’s business as usual for the Jazzmen.
Utah Jazz Injury Report
As mentioned, Royce O’Neale is listed as questionable for this contest with an ankle sprain. There are no other injuries listed for the Jazz in this contest.
Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction
The Jazz have developed an unfortunate habit of playing down to their competition this season, having dropped contests to the Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers thus far. Even their last game against the semi-tanking Oklahoma City Thunder was a little too close-for-comfort.
Nonetheless, it’s difficult to bet against the Jazzman in this contest. While the Pelicans have shown some signs of life in recent weeks, they still project as being entirely outmanned by the Jazz.
The Utah Jazz boast the NBA’s second best Net Rating at 9.16. The New Orleans Pelicans enter this game with the league’s fourth worst Net Rating at -7.58.
The safe money is on the Jazz, but it may be a little closer than their fans would hope.
Prediction: Jazz 114, Pelicans 107
Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans TV Channel
The Jazz-Pelicans will air on AT&T SportsNet in Utah and on BallySports in New Orleans. The tipoff is at 7:00 PM MT.
Utah Jazz Schedule and Next Game
This game is one of a miniseries in back-to-back action with the Pelicans. Following their rematch on Saturday night, the Jazz get a night to rest before hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
The Jazz kick off December with a battle against the Boston Celtics on the 3rd. Following that contest, they’ll travel to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, December 5th.